Distribution problem in independent Turkish cinema

Cinema is an industry as well as an art. This industry basically consists of production, distribution and display stages. However, the distribution stage stands out in terms of both enabling the films to reach the audience and determining the economic success of the film in the industrial process. When we look at the history of cinema, especially the formation process of Hollywood cinema, it is seen that these industrial processes reveal the distinctions between mainstream and independent cinema. The fact that cinema is seen as a profitable field by large companies has transformed cinema into an area where struggles to establish economic dominance are experienced during the industrialization process and especially with the completion of this process. At this point, in the industry where cinema is generally seen as a commercial product, while mainstream cinema comes to the fore, independent cinema, which constitutes the intellectual and artistic side of cinema, has been neglected. These developments seen in world cinema have also been experienced in a unique way in Turkish cinema. At this point, the aim of the study is to reveal the problems experienced in the independent Turkish cinema of the distribution stage, which is seen as a prominent area in the cinema industry. The study especially highlights the distribution problem that independent cinema experiences due to monopolization. From this point of view, the Turkish cinema industry and the field of distribution were examined in detail and the distribution problem of independent Turkish cinema was discussed from a critical perspective within the framework of the political economy approach and the concept of the culture industry. Multiple methods were used together in the study. In this context, descriptive analysis method was used in the historical perspective in the theoretical parts of the study, and in-depth interview method was used in the field research. In addition, using the quantitative data in the distribution area of the Turkish cinema industry, their qualitative analyzes were made. As a result of all these studies carried out in the historical, economic and cultural framework, it has been determined that there is a serious distribution problem in independent Turkish cinema due to the monopolization of the distribution area. This problem in the field of distribution started as a general problem with some legislative changes, especially at the end of the 1980s, and then turned into a vertical monopolized structure with the further commercialization of cinema. In this case, the mainstream cinema, where cinema is seen as a commercial activity from there, dominated, but independent cinema could not find a place for itself. The most important point here is that the distribution problem of independent cinema, which sees cinema as a production of art and thought, is of vital importance for Turkish cinema. Because independent cinema has a distribution problem and in this case, the dominance of mainstream cinema will cause cinema to be understood only as entertainment in the long run. This is a situation that determines the fate of Turkish cinema.